US backs off Dec. deadline for Afghan pact
Iran Press TV
Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:48PM GMT
The administration of US President Barack Obama has said the deadline for signing a security agreement with the government of Afghanistan could be extended to January despite an earlier ultimatum that the agreement must be signed by the end of December.
"If you're asking, 'Does that mean that if they sign it on January 10th, that's going to be a huge problem?' Probably not," Josh Earnest, a deputy spokesman for the White House, said on Wednesday.
"What will be a significant problem is if there is not quick action taken to get this signed," he told a news briefing.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign the bilateral security agreement with Washington, calling for an end to raids on Afghans' homes and US drone strikes against civilian targets.
If signed, the security agreement will allow thousands of US troops to stay in Afghanistan for up to a decade beyond 2014. It also gives them immunity from prosecution under Afghan law.
Washington says if a deal is not signed, it would have to pull its entire force of some 44,500 troops out of the country by the end of 2014.
The White House's decision to extend the deadline for signing the security deal with Kabul comes after US military chief General Martin Dempsey said on Tuesday that Washington has no intention to renegotiate a security deal with Afghanistan.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff also threatened the Afghan government that a full withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan would destabilize the country.
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